Welcome to Your New Life (to your new life)
by SplatDragon
Summary: {Remember how long she had us looking for Perra, Sekka, and Tenva?} / Oh, how could I forget? We looked for days! Never did find them. / Aheeyah stared at them in horror—what had she been brought into?


Contrary to popular belief, most wild creatures _do _have names—just not in the way that humans are used to.

After all, when you travel in packs, or herds, or flocks, you have to be able to pick one out from the group. Even those that work on their own have them, since their parents or siblings, children or mate have to be able to get their attention.

Their names just… aren't what humans expect. A lot of herbivores tend to be quiet, low grunting and soft wheezes, in their own tones and pitches. Most carnivores tend to be a series of growls and grunts and snarls, never loud roars.

Until she was tamed, like any raptor, her name had been a series of clicks and chatters.

But then she'd woken up, stomach full to bursting, finding herself wanting nothing more than to obey the woman squatted before her. The woman had called her _'Aheeyah'_, and that was that.

She'd felt no anger nor bloodlust to the ankylosaurus that stood nearby, unbothered by her presence, even the equus that, she remembered, the woman had been riding around her as she struck her with pointy little things, until she'd found herself very sleepy and collapsing to the ground.

The woman had stood, backing up and whistling sharply, and as Aheeyah stood she knew, somehow, what she wanted. _'Follow me'_, the woman was saying in her own language, and so she did, trotting after her as she climbed back on the equus, allowing it to move slowly so the ankylosaurus could keep up.

_Hurry up! _Aheeyah hissed, narrowing her eyes at the Ankylosaur—how dare he be so lazy? Their leader wanted them to move, and he was moving so, so slowly!

The Ankylosaur grumbled, slowing down slightly as though to spite her, _/ Enough, / _he rumbled, _/ We are in no rush, we will get there in time. / _

Aheeyah chattered wordlessly, unable to fathom such a thing. With her pack, they had always hurried from place to place, yet here they were moving so slowly, that even an Ankylosaur was nearly at the head.

And they kept on at that agonizing pace for hours upon hours. Aheeyah could feel her blood itching beneath her skin, wanted to dart after the dodos and dilophosaur they passed, but the woman whistled a sharp _'Stay passive' _and so she remained at the equus' heel, merely flaring her head feathers, hissing excitedly, each time being told

_{Easy, raptor,} _by the equus, sounding more and more annoyed.

Finally, _finally_, there was the loud baying of Dire Wolves, and the woman whistled sharply _'Be aggressive!'_, and as she peeled her lips back from her teeth, snarled loudly at the approaching wolves, her blood began to sing, thrumming at the thought of a good battle with her new leader.

The ankylosaurus bellowed, whirling to strike the nearest dire wolf with his tail. _/ Stay back! / _he warned Aheeyah, and she chattered excitedly,

_I know! _too excited to be bothered that she was being treated like a foolish little hatchling, skidding out of the way before launching herself at the one closest to her, pinning it to the ground and tearing its throat out, relishing the taste of its blood on her tongue. The equus' hooves were loud on the ground, and as she raised her head and find the next, she could see the woman riding it in hurried circles as she fired arrows at the wolves.

She snarled, pouncing at one that had squealed, struck by an arrow, tearing it open before darting away as the ankylosaurus brought its tail down on it with a _crunch_, looking around to find that there were no dire wolves left.

_That's it? _she panted, lowering her head to begin to feast on the flattened dire wolf.

The equus threw her head, stamping a hoof as the woman dismounted. _{Don't. She gets first pick.} _

Aheeyah hadn't been aware that humans ate from carcasses, but she lowered her head bashfully, expecting a nip, though instead the woman knelt and pulled a blade from her hip, beginning to cut away parts of the wolf's hide. _What is she doing? _the raptor asked, baffled, leaning in to watch. The woman huffed, baring her teeth in a way that didn't seem particularly aggressive, placing her hand on her nose and nudging her away. She obliged, backing away but still watching, confused.

_/ She uses their pelts to make things. Clothes, weapons, tools. / _the ankylosaurus rumbled, lifting his head from where he'd begun to drink from a puddle of water.

_How? _Aheeyah asked, and the ankylosaurus gave the best shrug he could.

_/ How should I know? / _

The woman moved between the carcasses, allowed Aheeyah to feed once she was done, and the raptor was sure she'd never been so well fed, even when she was a hatchling.

And then, of course, between the fifth and the sixth wolf, a purlovia leaped from the ground. The equus screamed and reared, darting a distance away, while the ankylosaurus began to lumber forward. Aheeyah was closer, of course, and far angrier, so she lunged, attempting to sink her teeth into its side. But the purlovia twisted, sinking its fangs into her shoulder, and throwing her away. She groaned, laying still, only able to watch as it lunged towards the woman.

_/ Got him! / _the ankylosaurus bellowed, twisting to slam its tail into the purlovia.

_{Wait!} _the equus yelped from where she stood, safe, but the ankylosaurus wasn't able to stop himself in time. His tail struck human and purlovia both, sending them both flying over the cliff edge.

The three hurried to the cliff edge, peering over it, flinching as the woman struck rock once, twice, three times, before hitting the bottom, unmoving.

_{Really?} _the equus sighed, turning to eye the ankylosaurus.

_/ It was an accident! / _he rumbled, seeming more indignant than upset that their leader was dead at his hands… well, tail.

_You killed her! _Aheeyah gasped, eyes wide, feathered tail lashing violently.

The equus shook her head, wandering from the ledge and beginning to graze again, while the ankylosaurus huffed a laugh, wandering back to his puddle, _/ She'll come back for us. / _

Aheeyah stared at them—did they not understand _dead? She… she's _dead! _Her corpse is down there! _

_/ Mmhmm. / _the ankylosaurus hummed, _/ None of us know how, but no matter how or what way she dies, she always comes back. It's strange. / _

The raptor tilted her head—she'd seen far too many of her clutchmates and pack die, and none of _them _came back.

_{It's true,} _the equus called, _{We just have to wait for her to come back for us.} _

The ankylosaurus chuckled, _/ _If _she comes back. Remember Kutcha? / _

The equus threw her head in a laugh, _{Oh, and Alma?} _

_/ Don't forget Zameka! / _

_{Remember how long she had us looking for Perra, Sekka, and Tenva?} _

_/ Oh, how could I forget? We looked for days! Never did find them. / _

Aheeyah stared at them in horror—what had she been brought into?


End file.
